Vikings earn first victory of season by downing Knox

The Lawrence University women’s basketball team picked up its first victory of the season with a stirring 81-77 Midwest Conference win over Knox College on Tuesday night at Alexander Gymnasium.

The victory snapped a 31-game winless streak for the Vikings. It was Lawrence’s first victory since an 88-68 victory at Silver Lake College on Feb. 15, 2010. It also marked Lawrence’s first Midwest Conference victory since a 62-53 victory over Knox on Jan. 19, 2008. Lawrence had gone 62 league games without a victory.

Lawrence (1-6, 1-2 MWC) got a double-double from guard Alex Deshler with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman guard Chioma Ejimkonye paced the Vikings with 20 points and added eight rebounds. Cathy Kaye chipped in with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Kelly Ricketts paced Knox (1-7, 1-4) with 14 points and six rebounds. Krystyna Williams added 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Prairie Fire.

Knox rallied in the second half and had its biggest lead of the game at 66-61 with 5:24 remaining. The Vikings battled back and took a 75-74 lead on a pair of Deshler free throws with 1:47 remaining.

Knox missed a pair of shots, and Deshler grabbed the rebound for the Vikings. Amber Lisowe then buried a 3-pointer from the left wing with 55 seconds left to give Lawrence a 78-74 lead.

After a pair of missed 3-pointers by Knox, an offensive foul gave Lawrence the ball back with 29 seconds left. Lisowe was fouled with 29 seconds left and made one free throw to give the Vikings a 79-74 lead.

Knox trimmed the lead to 79-77 when Ricketts hit a 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining. Knox then committed an intentional foul, and Deshler made one free throw with 11 seconds left to put Lawrence up 80-77. Knox then fouled Ejimkonye with nine seconds left and she made one free throw to seal the victory.

Playing against Knox’s pressing, uptempo style, Lawrence shot 47.1 percent from the floor in the first half. The Vikings went 6-for-7 on 3-pointers in the first half to build a 42-27 lead at the break.

Knox opened the second half on a 12-3 run to trim the lead to 45-39 with 14:53 remaining. After Kaye hit a 3-pointer to give Lawrence a 52-45 lead, Knox scored the game’s next seven points to tie the game at 52-52 with 10:20 left. Knox built its lead to as many as five points before Lawrence rallied for the victory.

Lawrence hits the road to face Monmouth College on Friday.

Box score